J. T. Blatty is a freelance photographer, writer, and artist based in New Orleans. Her photographs have been exhibited internationally and have appeared in CNN Photos, Charleston Magazine, National Geographic Traveler, The Daily Beast, the Oxford American, Savannah Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, and USA Today, among other publications.

Craig E. Colten is the Carl O. Sauer Professor of Geography at Louisiana State University and the author, most recently, of Southern Waters: The Limits to Abundance.